We’ll need Army to drive ambulances until the Spring, warn union chiefs
SCOTLAND’S crisis-hit ambulance service will need help from the Army until spring ‘at least’, the Government has been told.
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon was forced to request assistance from the military last week – after missing years of warnings that the service was at ‘breaking point’.
Now the GMB union, which represents paramedics, has said the service is so short-staffed, heading into winter, that it will need Army back-up for more than six months at least.
It had already stated the call for help was ‘too little, too late’, and now it fears rising sickness cases, from burn-out and stress, and experienced paramedics eyeing early retirement, could lead to more problems for years to come.
Ms Sturgeon made two formal requests for help from the Ministry of Defence, last week, after a number of scandals in which patients were left waiting for hours for assistance.
The Scottish Government has not indicated how long the Army deployment will last, but the GMB warned it would not be a quick fix. Drew Duffy, of GMB Scotland, said: ‘I can’t see the Army being pulled out again until at least spring.
‘You’re looking at a 20 to 40 per cent increase in calls over winter, due to falls and things like that.’
It is understood that the initial request, for 110 personnel to run Covid-testing sites, to free up ambulance staff, was made by the Government on Wednesday.
Ministers quickly realised this would not be enough, and made a second request, marked ‘urgent’, late on Thursday. This was for 90 personnel to drive ambulances.
However, GMB Scotland warned neither of those measures would fix the central problem of ambulances waiting hours outside of accident and emergency units, due to the pressure on hospitals.
Mr Duffy said: ‘We’re assuming the Army will triage patients outside of hospitals, so ambulances can get going again, but down South that means putting them in tents – but it’s cold in Scotland.
‘These are the questions we have, but we’ve no idea what the government is planning. Nicola Sturgeon makes a statement and we have all got to react to that.
‘We’ve still got no idea of what the Army is going to be doing.’
During First Minister’s Questions, on Thursday, Ms Sturgeon said ‘temporary admission wards’ could be set up inside hospital buildings, but that tents would not be appropriate. There are also fears about the impact on paramedics.
Mr Duffy added: ‘The worry at the moment is the number of staff going off sick from burn-out and stress. We’ve got people nearing retirement who might go sooner.’
The Scottish Government said the final decision on how Army personnel are deployed will be for the ambulance service.
A Scottish Ambulance Service spokesman said: ‘Targeted military assistance has been requested to provide additional capacity to assist with service pressures in the coming months.’